A suspect has been taken into custody after stabbing multiple people at a community college in the Houston area.

The suspect, who appeared to be a student, was armed with a weapon similar to an exacto knife, a witness told KTRK-TV.

Authorities responded to the Lone Star College Cy-Fair campus just before 11:30 a.m. Students said the suspect was seen slashing at people’s necks and upper bodies. There were at least 11 wounded, with at least four people with critical injuries, officials said.

I’m not anti gun. But if you lot can’t see how this makes the pro gun crowd look then you’re blind. The guy uses a knife and nobody (i think) dies. But what if he used a gun?

He said he had been fantasizing doing this with a razor knife for years. If a gun had been in his fantasy he would have used a gun.
The “what if” should be, “What if some of he students had had guns”, instead of hiding they would have sent him straight to hell and saved the Texas taxpayers millions of dollars.

BOP, this idiot’s victims are “lucky” he “only” used an X-Acto knife. Worst case, they would “only” suffer disabilities due to tendon damage. Had he chosen to use a box cutter he could easily have severed arteries or veins, causing them to bleed to death. And with a hunting, military style or medium-large kitchen knife … Not much difference from what happened to several deaths. So, no, this doesn’t make gun rights people look silly when they point out how much damage could be done with a knife.

I’m not anti gun. But if you lot can’t see how this makes the pro gun crowd look then you’re blind. The guy uses a knife and nobody (i think) dies. But what if he used a gun?

If you’re not anti-gun, why would you even think that way? I don’t get it, as it doesn’t make much sense in the light of the fact that there are two people in critical condition, and the bonzo flat-out stated that he was trying to go on a killing spree.

I think it makes the pro-2nd Amendment crowd look good 'cuz now they can say, “SEE? You can take all the guns away in the world, and it STILL won’t stop the violence.”

And yes, I have noted that the anti-gun crowd/politicians always say, “GUN violence.” Not just, “Violence.” It’s gotta be, "GUN violence."
Isn’t that very telling in and of itself?

[quote=“2cent, post:9, topic:39001”]
If you’re not anti-gun, why would you even think that way? I don’t get it, as it doesn’t make much sense in the light of the fact that there are two people in critical condition, and the bonzo flat-out stated that he was trying to go on a killing spree.

I think it makes the pro-2nd Amendment crowd look good 'cuz now they can say, “SEE? You can take all the guns away in the world, and it STILL won’t stop the violence.”

And yes, I have noted that the anti-gun crowd/politicians always say, “GUN violence.” Not just, “Violence.” It’s gotta be, "GUN violence."
Isn’t that very telling in and of itself?
[/quote] And yet 2 US cities with the strictest controls on guns have the highest rates of “gun violence” going away…how’s that working?

Time and time and time again, in virtually all of these mass assault/mass murder cases we listen to people who knew the perp step forward after the fact and declare - “Yeah, we knew the guy was crazy. Everyone was afraid of him.” Or words to the effect. With this latest incident in Texas we are hearing the same thing about the knife-wielding nut job. It seems everyone who knew him claims he was known to be “crazy”. And yet no one takes steps to seek intervention for these people. Even the psychiatrist treating the theater shooter in Colorado - who had been told by her client that he was experiencing homicidal ideation - only informed the school campus police AFTER the guy had dropped out of school. She did NOT follow up. She herself could have had him hospitalized for evaluation by simply seeking a court order - an order that no judge would have denied. She didn’t.

Of course, our politicians - ever mindful of political advantage and keeping a leg up on their competition - focus on guns while COMPLETLY ignoring the truly important element driving the behavior itself - mental illness.

Let’s face it - regardless whether we are talking about fiscal policy, foreign affairs, or dealing with the mentally ill, we have gutless, un-ethical and ultimately ignorant SOBs in charge of this country. Every move by most of our leaders is based on one calculation and one calculation only - is it easy to sell to gullible voters and will it help me get re-elected. This is how we end up with 75,000 pages of tax code, 2500 pages of legislation on health insurance (not health care) and the turning of a blind eye toward and failing to address what is driving the mass killings in this country - mental illness.

Time and time and time again, in virtually all of these mass assault/mass murder cases we listen to people who knew the perp step forward after the fact and declare - “Yeah, we knew the guy was crazy. Everyone was afraid of him.” Or words to the effect. With this latest incident in Texas we are hearing the same thing about the knife-wielding nut job. It seems everyone who knew him claims he was known to be “crazy”. And yet no one takes steps to seek intervention for these people. Even the psychiatrist treating the theater shooter in Colorado - who had been told by her client that he was experiencing homicidal ideation - only informed the school campus police AFTER the guy had dropped out of school. She did NOT follow up. She herself could have had him hospitalized for evaluation by simply seeking a court order - an order that no judge would have denied. She didn’t.

Of course, our politicians - ever mindful of political advantage and keeping a leg up on their competition - focus on guns while COMPLETLY ignoring the truly important element driving the behavior itself - mental illness.

Let’s face it - regardless whether we are talking about fiscal policy, foreign affairs, or dealing with the mentally ill, we have gutless, un-ethical and ultimately ignorant SOBs in charge of this country. Every move by most of our leaders is based on one calculation and one calculation only - is it easy to sell to gullible voters and will it help me get re-elected. This is how we end up with 75,000 pages of tax code, 2500 pages of legislation on health insurance (not health care) and the turning of a blind eye toward and failing to address what is driving the mass killings in this country - mental illness.

You no doubt recall not so long back that it was decided that it was unConstitutional to keep the deranged against their will.
Nobody’s figured out a better plan, but it hasn’t gone away yet.
I guess they haven’t ignored it long enough.

You are incorrect, 2cent. By court order and even against his/her will, an individual may be hospitalized for mental evaluation - generally for up to 72 hours. Generally speaking, either a doctor/mental health practitioner (such as, a clinical social worker) or the police can bring the case before the court in order to show cause for seeking hospitalization/evaluation. At the end of the evaluation period the court is presented with the psych workup and clinical evaluation. If the patient is deemed to be a continued danger to himself or others by a state licensed psychiatrist (with peer review) he/she may be ordered by the court to be held for further observation and treatment, subject to periodic court review. This is the law in Cal under section 5150. Other jurisdictions with which I am familiar operate under the same/similar legal authority.

One of the real problems pertaining to private mental health treatment is that insurers often don’t provide for it. In addition, because of the social/cultural stigma attached to one’s mental incapacity many people who would otherwise benefit from intervention choose not to seek help.

You are incorrect, 2cent. By court order and even against his/her will, an individual may be hospitalized for mental evaluation - generally for up to 72 hours. Generally speaking, either a doctor/mental health practitioner (such as, a clinical social worker) or the police can bring the case before the court in order to show cause for seeking hospitalization/evaluation. At the end of the evaluation period the court is presented with the psych workup and clinical evaluation. If the patient is deemed to be a continued danger to himself or others by a state licensed psychiatrist (with peer review) he/she may be ordered by the court to be held for further observation and treatment, subject to periodic court review. This is the law in Cal under section 5150. Other jurisdictions with which I am familiar operate under the same/similar legal authority.

One of the real problems pertaining to private mental health treatment is that insurers often don’t provide for it. In addition, because of the social/cultural stigma attached to one’s mental incapacity many people who would otherwise benefit from intervention choose not to seek help.

Thanks for the correction and clarification. (FWIW, I was referring back to when, all of a sudden, lots of homeless people showed up, and people wondered from where they came. The mental wards that were all shut down. Which, btw, I couldn’t support, either. The wards, that is. At least not the way they were run back in the day.)

Anyway, I more clearly see your point regarding the psychiatrist who was treating the shooter in the CO case. She definately dropped the ball.

I would agree, too, that more people would seek help if not for the social stigma attached to going 'to a shrink.'
Thing is, background checks for obtaining a firearm aren’t going to help that situation; more likely make it worse, as people are going to be afraid to so much as get bereavement counselling for fear of losing their right to bear arms.
And as I said, law enforcement is not the psychiatrist’s job, so how can society force them to do that job by holding them responsible if they don’t ‘report’ every instance to some database? (or whatever.)

The problem is not the weapon. Weapons, or no weapons, they are only a tool. The problem is the mental state of people.

Dr. Mike correctly pointed out the problem in his post.

Time and time and time again, in virtually all of these mass assault/mass murder cases we listen to people who knew the perp step forward after the fact and declare - “Yeah, we knew the guy was crazy. Everyone was afraid of him.” Or words to the effect. With this latest incident in Texas we are hearing the same thing about the knife-wielding nut job. It seems everyone who knew him claims he was known to be “crazy”. And yet no one takes steps to seek intervention for these people. Even the psychiatrist treating the theater shooter in Colorado - who had been told by her client that he was experiencing homicidal ideation - only informed the school campus police AFTER the guy had dropped out of school. She did NOT follow up. She herself could have had him hospitalized for evaluation by simply seeking a court order - an order that no judge would have denied. She didn’t.

Of course, our politicians - ever mindful of political advantage and keeping a leg up on their competition - focus on guns while COMPLETLY ignoring the truly important element driving the behavior itself - mental illness.

Let’s face it - regardless whether we are talking about fiscal policy, foreign affairs, or dealing with the mentally ill, we have gutless, un-ethical and ultimately ignorant SOBs in charge of this country. Every move by most of our leaders is based on one calculation and one calculation only - is it easy to sell to gullible voters and will it help me get re-elected. This is how we end up with 75,000 pages of tax code, 2500 pages of legislation on health insurance (not health care) and the turning of a blind eye toward and failing to address what is driving the mass killings in this country - mental illness.

Shouldn’t we have some limitations on xacto knives? The founders surely didn’t intend for someone to own any type of knife they wanted. They didn’t even know knives like this would exist. How could they? Maybe more laws, reasonable restrictions, and background checks would help, if we don’t have the common decency to ban knives.

The problem is not the weapon. Weapons, or no weapons, they are only a tool. The problem is the mental state of people.

Dr. Mike correctly pointed out the problem in his post.

He’s exactly right.

If there is a will to do harm, harm will be done.

The mental state of someone is not what harms people. If someone is fantasizing about killing people on his campus, he shouldn’t be able to go out and buy a gun. The fact that he was only able to get an Xacto knife and that no one died shows that.

Should people like this man be able to buy guns without some sort of check?

The mental state of someone is not what harms people. If someone is fantasizing about killing people on his campus, he shouldn’t be able to go out and buy a gun. The fact that he was only able to get an Xacto knife and that no one died shows that.

Should people like this man be able to buy guns without some sort of check?